Sports

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Does anyone have experience with Aspie's in sports? My bf has a son who is in hockey and absolutely obsessed with it. I am concerned that he may not be very successful at it once it gets more into "team play." At his age ( 8 ), they are still basically just "puck hogs" trying to get to the goal.

Does anyone have any success/not-so-successful stories about Aspie's in sports?

Michelle

Let him find his own way at it. Maybe he will do fine, if not it's just a life experience like anyone would have. Actually better because it will give him more social experience.

I do well in auto racing, arm wrestling and a variety other things that may or may not actually be considered sports. Don't ever pick me for your baseball team.

I've actually played a very wide range of sports. My first was soccer when I was three; it was about like your boyfriend's son's hockey. I worried more about running next to the girl I thought was cute than about getting the ball (except for that one glorious day I realized, "Hey, if I don't follow the exact same path the guy with the ball is, I can catch up and get the ball!" Oh, the glory).

I also did baseball for a while (first and second grade); I only stuck with that for as long as I did because my dad was the pitcher (kids didn't pitch in that age group) and I knew exactly how he threw so I could hit it every time. My eyes are severely screwy (20/400 vision), and once I graduated to kid pitch, I couldn't see the ball well enough to hit it. I only got on base when I got walked or the one time a pitch hit me (thank God I got my leg up in time, or I wouldn't have been able to even walk ).

I was on the swim team from kindergarten to seventh grade, and I was VERY good at that. Even though I couldn't (and still can't) stand the sensation of water on my face (only when I'm above water, luckily), I loved it. I only stopped because I liked wrestling even more, and the two together just took up too much time and energy.

The next sport I did was soccer from third to fifth grade, and I loved it. I was a defender, and that fit me perfectly. I was a pretty aggressive kid if I got provoked, and since I was so small (in 5th grade I weighed in the 50's) I got provoked often. I was an effective defender because when people tried to get rough I would get rough back, and it would surprise them. Soccer was a lot of fun.

In fifth grade, I got started with wrestling. I was always paired with the same two guys, and both would beat me easily. I would have quit after that year, but one of the guys would show me how he beat me and what to do next time (then of course he would do something completely different ). The other guy was just an ass. He ended up taking a year off, and by the time seventh grade rolled around I could beat him easily . I never did beat the nice guy, but he ended up being a two-time state champion. I loved wrestling, My sophomore year was by far my best year, except one week before the state qualifier I tore my MCL. I wrestled in the tournament anyways, and even with a torn ligament, my first loss was to the eventual region champ by one point. My knee got progressively weaker and weaker, though, and my second loss (that put me out of the running) was not nearly as competitive. I tried to come back my junior year, but the ligament had led to cartilage damage, so I had to give it up.

I did cross country from seventh to ninth grade, but my cartilage started wearing down midway through my freshman year and I had to stop. After I stopped wrestling, I went back to swimming my senior year and had a blast.

I also did basketball somewhere around first grade, but I didn't enjoy it at all and I sucked at it, and I really don't remember much about it other than that.

I was good at soccer. Well, skilled at it. But I eventually hated hated hated hated hated it. My coach picked on me because I was weird, and eventually made me a scapegoat for the whole team, even telling everyone I was at fault for us losing our All Star Tournament.

And though I was coordinated, I had hypotonia (very common in ASD kids) and eventually couldn't keep up physically. When I finally passed out on the field, she screamed at me for 'being dramatic' in front of everyone. So I quit.

On the other hand, more successfully I am now a competitive airsoft marksman. I love it! Just make sure, for pete's sake, that your kid doesn't start hating what he does, and that he's not on a team that will penalize him for being different.

If your BF's son is obsessed with hockey, then I suppose it will help him to learn how to play better in a team because the others will share his interest. At this age he doesn't have to be great at it, he just has to enjoy it (which he does). Hockey skills can be learned but for now I think you should just let him enjoy it.

The only sport I ever did in school was cross country running...& I kept getting lost.

I failed at sports as a kid. Terrible physical co-ordination, dreadful at anything that required hand-eye co-ordination. I was your typical last kid picked for the team child.
However, I have recently taken up martial arts and love it. I have competed in a couple of tournaments and even got a first place. I suck at sparing though - just can't remember to block and hit at the same time, but in forms and weapons I do an okay job.

I think the trick is finding something that plays to your strengths and so far, it sounds like your son has a strength in hockey. I would let him keep playing until he decides it's something he no longer enjoys. Might be a good idea to talk to the coach regularly to make sure he is doing okay and work on any problems that might occur.

My temperament is not great for sports.

When I was young my parents forced me to do soccer which was not very successful.

In high school I had a big growth spurt and became the tallest kid in class. I was then peer pressured by some of the athletes into working out and trying out football where they made me a tight end. I was a good player and could block and catch. However I took many low hits that weren't called and started retaliating and picking up personal fouls. My coach got mad at me a lot for this and I quit the team after being ejected from a game.

Then someone on the basketball team convinced me that basketball was less physical and better for me. I became the starting power forward and leading scorer on the team and we had good chemistry. That was actually a good experience.

So in college I tried out for the basketball team again. My skills were very welcome and I was made a starter again. On that team I was again the main offensive option but they also wanted me to be a showboat to cause momentum, even at the expense of picking up a technical foul on an easy dunk for taunting. I had to develop trash talk and a brasher side to my personality. However the team chemistry was not good, my teammates were all very social and I eventually got crap from them for not having a harem. I started picking up second technical fouls on purpose to get ejected because I didn't enjoy playing with them. My college took too much time for academics so I quit the team after freshman year.